How to Make Sourdough Bread More Sour

Growing up, my dad would bake a loaf of sourdough every weekend. I loved that bread. It was nice and tart. When we’d take trips to San Fransisco we’d get some local bread and compare to my dad’s. The sourness level was comparable. Of course I was biased, but I thought my dad’s bread was just as good. About 12 years ago I started trying to recreate my dad’s recipe in a gluten free version. I’ve done a lot of research on the topic of sourness in sourdough in order to reverse-engineer my dad's San Fransisco style sourdough recipe to make it gluten free. There is more info out there about wheaten/rye baking so that became the basis of most of my research. There are a lot of factors in the flavor of your home-baked sourdough product: the starter, the method, and the ingredients. Starter You don’t necessarily have to create a special starter for sour bread. However, there are a few things that might help. Use the starter after peak, even well after its optimal window for yeast growth.